The third batch of 6,400 devotees left the Jammu base camp on the second day of Amarnath Yatra in two separate convoys on Friday to join the holy pilgrimage to Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir, officials said.
So far, 14,000 devotees have paid their obeisance at the cave shrine located at an altitude of 3,880 meters since Thursday. The Yatris are upbeat about this year’s Yatra with intensified security and other arrangements put in place by the Jammu and Kashmir government.
The Yatra commenced from Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district, the two conventional tracks, officials said.
The third batch consists of the third batch of 6,411 devotees, including 4,723 men, 1,071 women, 37 children, and 580 sadhus and Sadhvis, left in 291 vehicles, they added.
The two cavalcades left at an interval of exactly 45 minutes; the first group left around 3.15 AM, while the second group left at 4 AM, escorted by CRPF.
The 3,622 pilgrims took the longer 48 kilometre trek through the traditional Pahalgam route, while 2,789 pilgrims preferred the much steeper but shorter 14-kilometre Baltal route from Sonamarg.
With today’s batch, a total of 17,549 devotees have left the Bhagwati Nagar Jammu base camp since Wednesday, when Manoj Sinha flagged off the Yatra from the camp.
The Yatra goes on as usual, with tighter and much better security arrangements, keeping in view the April 22 Pahalgam attack.
The official stats from the Shrine board suggest, which were also quoted by Lieutenant Governor during his recent address that More than 3.5 lakh people have registered online for the pilgrimage.
Though the numbers are likely to swell further with the government setting up offline centres for the convenience of the Yatris.
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